Tripoli, March 19: Rebels shot down a fighter jet as Gaddafi's forces broke ceasfire and their tanks rolled in rebel stronghold Benghazi.
The video footage shows a jet burst into flames before hurtling to the ground in a plume of smoke.
Gaddafi's ceasefire was in tatters this morning after a fighter jet was shot down in flames by rebels over Benghazi. Video footage showed the jet, believed to be a MIG, circling over the city before flames burst out of its engine and it hurtled to the ground.
It comes as heavy shelling has been heard on the outskirts of the rebel-held city in eastern Libya as loyalist forces defied the UN resolution and ceasefire.
Rebel leaders said Gaddafi's forces had entered the city as they hastily put up concrete barricades to defend their headquarters. Reports of skirmishes between loyalist forces and rebels have emerged, with claims that fighter jets have bombed the road to the airport. The Libyan government has denied its forces were in action in Benghazi, and blamed rebels for trying to spark international military action in the country. Angus MacSwan, a correspondent for Reuters, said: 'I saw the plane circle around, come out of the clouds, head towards an apparent target, and then it was hit and went straight down in flames and a huge billow of black smoke went up. 'It seems it was attacking the Benghazi military barracks.'
Explosions have been heard in the city since the early hours of the morning, with rebel fighters claiming hired mercenaries were beginning to infiltrate the city.
Khalid Ahmed, a rebel fighter, said: 'They were 40 miles away yesterday, they are 12 miles away and they can be here in a half our to 90 minutes.'
Two mercenaries were killed in a firefight with opposition forces in the Benghazi suburbs. The two men, in civilian clothes, were shot and killed and blood-soaked identity papers revealed they were Nigerian.
Libyan forces have insisted they were holding to a ceasefire announced yesterday and repeated an invitation for international observers to enter the country today to monitor it.
Deputy foreign minister Khaled Kaim told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The ceasefire is real, credible and solid. We are willing to receive observes as soon as possible, even today.'
U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice last night said the Libyan leader was already in violation of the UN Security Council resolution 1973, passed on Thursday, which called for an immediate end to hostilities and authorised 'all necessary measures' short of foreign occupation to protect civilians.
She told CNN that Gaddafi would face 'swift and sure consequences including military action' if he ignored international demands. Residents in the rebel-held city of Misrata said they faced heavy shelling yesterday - denied by Gaddafi's government - another breach of the broad-ranging UN resolution.
At least 38 people are believed to have been killed in the attack in Misrata. But Gaddafi condemned the resolution. He told Al Jazeera: 'This is blatant colonialism. It does not have any justification. 'This will have serious consquences on the Mediterranean and on Europe.'
